Iranian President Pezeshkian pledges banking reforms and orders talks with protesters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that measures were under way to reform the banking sector after protests erupted over the fall of the national currency.

Mr Pezeshkian said he had instructed the interior minister to engage in dialogue with protesters to hear their demands.

Iranian traders and shopkeepers staged protests for a second day on Monday after the country’s rial plummeted to 1.42 million to the dollar on Sunday, before recovering slightly to 1.38 million.

“The livelihood of the people is my daily concern. We have fundamental measures on the agenda to reform the monetary and banking system and preserve the purchasing power of the people,” Mr Pezeshkian said on X.

“I instructed the Minister of Interior to hear the protesters' legitimate demands through dialogue with their representatives so that the government can act responsibly and with all its might to resolve the problems,” he added.

Videos on social media showed hundreds of people taking part in rallies on Saadi Street in central Tehran and in the Shoush neighbourhood near the Grand Bazaar.

There were no reports of a police crackdown, although security was tight at the protests, witnesses said.

Semi-official Tasnim news agency said there were no signs on new protests on Tuesday morning.

Iran's central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin resigned on Monday and was replaced by former economy minister Abdolnaser Hemmati.

According to the state statistics centre, Iran's inflation rose to 42.2 per cent this month from the same period last year, and is 1.8 per cent higher than last month.

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